Elizabeth Bennion

Chancellor’s Professor of Political Science

Research and Teaching Interests

American politics; campaigns and elections; public opinion and political participation; civic education; political behavior; experimental political science; the scholarship of teaching and learning

Biography

Dr. Elizabeth A. Bennion is Chancellor’s Professor of Political Science and Director of Community Engagement at Indiana University South Bend. As Director of Community Engagement, she supports and promotes community‑engaged teaching, research, service, and partnerships across the region.

Bennion joined the IU South Bend Department of Political Science in 1999 and has served as instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, and professor. She was awarded the rank of Chancellor’s Professor in 2021 in recognition of sustained excellence in teaching, research, and service.

Professor Bennion teaches courses in American politics, with an emphasis on political behavior, elections, and civic engagement. She is the founding director of IU South Bend’s American Democracy Project and has served in that role since 2004. She is past host of Politically Speaking, WNIT’s live weekly public affairs television program, and current president of the Indiana Debate Commission, the nation’s oldest statewide debate commission.

A nationally recognized expert on civic education and political engagement, Dr. Bennion has authored or edited more than 85 publications and has delivered more than 200 invited presentations at academic conferences, colleges, universities, and community venues nationwide. She is a frequent media commentator for local, national, and international news organizations, with approximately 900 media appearances.

Her books include Teaching Civic Engagement: From Student to Active Citizen (2013), Teaching Civic Engagement Across the Disciplines (2017), Teaching Civic Engagement Globally (2021), and Teaching Experimental Political Science (2024). For over two decades, she has encouraged high impact teaching as author of The Teacher‑Scholar, a reoccurring column in The Political Science Educator, a national newsletter for political science educators.

Current research projects include grant‑funded research on reflective patriotism, a national study on student voter mobilization, and two edited volumes under contract, Understanding Experimental Political Science and Teaching Civic Engagement Online.

Honors and Awards

• Making Democracy Work Award (Community)
  Awarded by the League of Women Voters of the South Bend Area for outstanding contributions to civic education, voter engagement, and the advancement of democratic participation. (2025)
  
  
• Top 25 Titans Award (IU South Bend)
  Awarded annually by the Office of the Chancellor to employees whose work demonstrates exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact on student success. (2025)
  
  
• Roland Kelly Award (Community)
  Presented by the Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation of St. Joseph County in recognition of sustained service to the community and commitment to civic ideals. (2025)
  
  
• Chancellor’s Professor (Indiana University system‑wide)
  A permanent rank of distinction awarded to full professors with highly meritorious records of teaching, research, and service across the IU system. (2021)
  
  
• Walter Beach Pi Sigma Alpha Award (National)
  National award recognizing a political scientist whose career strengthens the connection between political science scholarship and public service. (2020)
  
  
• Barbara Burch Award for Faculty Leadership in Civic Engagement (National)
  National award honoring faculty leadership in advancing civic learning, community engagement, and democratic education in higher education. (2016, 2019)
  
  
• Brian Douglas Hiltunen Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Scholarship of Engagement (State)
  Presented by Indiana Campus Compact in recognition of excellence in engaged scholarship and community‑based teaching and research. (2016)
  
  
• Maud Wood Park Award (Community)
  Awarded by the League of Women Voters of the South Bend Area for sustained service and leadership in support of civic education and voter engagement. (2015)
  
  
• Legacy Award (IU South Bend)
  Presented by the IU South Bend Alumni Association to a faculty member whose work has had a lasting positive impact on students and the campus community. (2015)
  
  
• City of South Bend Common Council Citation (Resolution No. 4347‑14) (Community / Governmental)
  Formal resolution honoring excellence in teaching, civic engagement, and contributions to lifelong learning in the South Bend community. (2014)
  
  
• Michiana Forty Under 40 Award (Regional)
  Award recognizing emerging leaders under the age of forty for professional achievement, civic involvement, and community impact. (2012)
  
  
• Trustees’ Teaching Award (Indiana University system‑wide)
  IU’s highest teaching honor, awarded for excellence in undergraduate instruction. Nine‑time recipient; university rules later limited eligibility frequency.
  
  
• Faculty Colloquium for Excellence in Teaching (FACET) (Indiana University system‑wide)
  Selective, peer‑reviewed teaching honor recognizing sustained excellence and leadership in teaching. Admitted 2004.
  
  
• W. George Pinnell Award for Outstanding Service (Indiana University system‑wide)
  Award recognizing exceptional service to the university, the profession, and the broader community. (2009)
  
  Grants
  
• Research Grants
  More than $307,000 in combined grant funding supporting research on civic engagement, political participation, voting behavior, experimental political science, democratic education, and the scholarship of teaching and learning.
  
  
• Political Engagement Grants
  More than $80,000 in grant funding supporting nonpartisan voter education, voter registration and mobilization, candidate forums and debates, civic leadership programming, and community‑engaged public education initiatives.

A complete list of funded projects is available in the unabridged CV.